TEHRAN – Iranian forces on Saturday detained 16 crew members of two fishing boats in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf.

They were captured near Kish Island, IRNA reported.
 
The coastguard commander for Kish Island, Colonel Rahim Jahanbakhsh, said the boats belonged to an Arab littoral state. He said one of the boats tried to escape the Iranian waters.

Iranian forces confiscated two metric tons of rare and endangered marine species, and a slew of Israeli-made fishing nets from the fleeing boats, according to IRNA.

MH/PA